The Nature and Purposes of Research in the Creative Media Industries

In the creative media industry, it is vital that all professionals carry out extensive amounts of research. Not only into the subject matter that they are creating a media product about, but their target audience and the consumption of other media products.

There are multiple types and methods of research that can be conducted before the production of a media product.

One of those is Primary Research. Also known as Self-Generated research, this is a type of research from which one collects data that has not already been formed or analysed- examples of these are questionnaires, interviews and observations. Observational methods make it difficult to collect data that is easy to analyse as the majority of the findings will be qualitative; however they can be useful if one wishes to collect data that is not affected by demand characteristics. In the media industry, this type of research is having to be collected constantly for the production of moving image productions. An example is the production of the Titanic (1997) James Cameron- interviews were conducted with producers and historians to ensure that the facts depicted in the film were as accurate as they possibly could be- most of this information and interview process had not been conducted, making sure that it is primary research. Also, the costumes and props used would've had to been researched into, in-depth. To collect primary research for my 3 Minute Wonder project, I used an online questionnaire to collect my research. I collected results from a mix of ages and genders, and in total got 16 responses to the 7 questions that were asked. Below are a few of the results that I collected;

Another type of research that can be collected is Secondary Research. This type of research includes forms such as books, newspaper and audio materials e.g. and is information that has already been collected and formulated for other audiences to research into and define. An example of secondary research that can be used by others in the industry is The Audit Bureau of Circulation- who circulate information to the magazine and newspaper industry. The type of secondary research that I collected for this particular project was internet research- involving researching into the lives of four individuals that had made a life-changing decision at some point in their life. These were; Malala Yousafzi, Aitizaz Hasan, Emily Davison and Gareth Thomas. I also conducted research into the BARB website to gather information on the target audience that I was hoping to aim my documentary at.

                  

Quantitative research is collected in the form of numbers and data that can be categorized into tables and graphs and can be analysed within groups. It’s collected in the form of numbers; some examples of this are; programme ratings, sales of DVDs and box office figures e.g. A positive about this form of research is that it’s quick and easy to analyse and so drawing conclusions from the results is relatively simple also. The making of the Titanic (1997) James Cameron- can also be applied here. The amount of actual fatalities needed to be as accurate as possible, as well as the depiction of the size of the boat and amount of life boats that were used. As this would've already been researched into, it's also a form of Secondary Research. In the research I conducted for the 3 Minute Wonder project, some of the questions that were asked in my survey allowed me to collect quantitative data, an example is shown below;

Qualitative data is the opinions, views and beliefs of others, meaning it is a lot harder to extrapolate representations and conclusions from. It’s a positive form of research as the answers collected are often a lot more detailed and give an insight into the reasoning's behind the answers given. Again, this is applicable to the production of the Titanic (1997) James Cameron- in that many interviews were conducted before, during and after the production of the film, to gain an insight on how individuals felt whilst re-making this national disaster. For my 3 Minute Wonder project, I collected qualitative data in the form of a questionnaire. The data that I collected didn't express views and beliefs, but enabled me to get an insight into what individuals' favourite documentaries are, and what they found interesting about this form of media. 

Examples of data gathering agencies are RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) and BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board). BARB has been running since 1981, not long after satellite television began its trial service in October of 1980. Commissioning research companies such as RSMB and Kantar Media  allow BARB to "collect data that represent the television viewing behaviour of the UK's 26 million TV households." By doing this, it enables a minute by minute breakdown of the viewings of certain channels to regional and national interested parties, such as advertisers and broadcasters- thus enabling them to assess "how programs, channels or advertising campaigns have performed and provides the basis for airtime advertising trading." The houses selected to represent this data are at an average of 5,000 homes- and constantly changes to represent the wider population and its ever-growing culture.

Audience and Market research is important when creating a medium product, to ensure that the producers are targeting the correct audience for their product, and allowing them to be confident that the product is being shown at the correct times and right places. Examples of such research are advertising placement and product market, alongside market competitors. Market competitors are those "who are competing for a share of the audience and revenue with similar products." An example used in the media industry itself is The National Readership Survey- who gives out information on who reads what in the industry. For my project, I conducted research into demographics and some analysis on the consumers’ psychographics, by asking them their age and gender, and what their favourite documentary was. This then allowed me to be confident that I was targeting the correct audience for the type of documentary that I wanted to produce. 

Production research is important in the media industry when wishing to create a product because it helps with providing content, as well as planning the post-production process. The producer of the media will be required to research into factors such as viability and placement media. For the documentary  project that I was set, it was vital that I didn't place any harmful or crude data that would be considered inappropriate for television- this was considered under the BARB guidelines. I also had to consider the location in which I wanted to film my project, and whether I would have to purchase any additional costumes or props.

Whilst assessing research data it is vital that one looks into how reliable and valid the research one has conducted is. The reliability can be argued against a survey as individuals may conform to demand characteristics, and so may answer in a way that they feel will make them more liked. It is also vital that one is consistent with the questions asked, and the location in which this takes place.  The validity of questionnaires can be argued against as some individual may answer them in a socially desirable way, to be more credited for their answers and to answer them how they think one would want them answered- not their true opinions.

The participants of the survey’s conducted were also un-representative of the population as a whole- for the target that I was aiming for, I believe that the data I collected gives a small insight into what others would believe- nonetheless, no conclusive data can be extrapolated from the research, therefore making the data un-generalisable. 

Reference List
http://www.rajar.co.uk/
http://www.barb.co.uk/
http://www.rsmb.co.uk/
http://www.kantarmedia.co.uk/
http://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Secondary/EnglishAndMedia/MediaStudies/BTECNationalInMediaProduction/Samples/Samplematerial/BTEC_Nat_Media_Unit01.pdf
http://www.abc.org.uk/
http://www.nrs.co.uk/
http://www.empireonline.com/features/making-of-titanic